Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 01/10/2015
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation held two meetings on Somalia on the sidelines of the Annual Coordination Meeting (ACM) of Foreign Minister during the 70th Session of the UNGA in New York on 28th September 2015. The OIC Contact Group on Somalia met at Ministerial level under the chairmanship of Qatar. It reviewed the latest developments in Somalia and heard from the Somali Foreign Minister, HE. Abdusalam H. Omer, and the OIC Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani.
In his statement, the Secretary General of the OIC said, “As a fragile state, Somalia remains in dire need of massive help in all areas, notably, capacity building, state and institution building, employment creation, poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, national reconciliation, countering violent extremism and terrorism which still poses grave danger to the country and the region as evidenced by the recent escalation of terrorist incidents inside Somalia and in neighboring Kenya.” He added that for Somalia to achieve a future of security, governance and governing institutions have to remain focused and united and avoid unnecessary distractions.
The Secretary General reiterated OIC’s full solidarity with Somalia and informed the meeting that actions have commenced towards the transformation of the OIC Humanitarian Office in Mogadishu to a Development Office with the added responsibility of monitoring the democratization process.
Mr. Madani thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the signing of a MoU with the OIC to implement a US$72.5 million worth of development projects as part of the OIC $350 million OIC Response for Somalia in some priority areas over a period of three years. The first phase of which covering the period 2013-2014 and totaling $24 million has been successfully implemented in five sectors consistent with strategic priorities of the Government. He invited other Member States to emulate the Saudi example by completing the funding gap for the Somalia Response. He urged officials from the Member States to visit Somalia and called on them to reopen their diplomatic missions in Mogadishu. Mr. Madani announced that in response to the invitation of the Federal Government he will soon undertake his first visit to Somalia as Secretary General to demonstrate the full solidarity with this founding Member State.
The Contact Group also heard interventions from other members. During the deliberations focusing on peace and state building process as well as the stabilization of the country, the meeting conveyed its full support for the Government led by Prime Minister HE. Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. It strongly condemned all acts of terrorism and violent extremism perpetrated by the remnants of the Al-Shabaab militants called on the militants to heed reason and abandon violence by joining the peace building and reconciliation process.
The meeting recalled the Six Pillar Plan of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and expressed its full support to the Plan, which seeks to address the current challenges facing the country. It urged the international community to continue to provide in a coordinated and sustained manner its full support for the implementation of the Plan consistent with the obligations of both the international community and Somalia in the reconstruction process. The meeting called on the OIC Member States and Financial Institutions to step up their assistance to the FGS in support of state, institution and peace building as well as the reconstruction efforts.
The joint UN-OIC-AU high-level meeting on Somalia, held under the title “Investing in peace: Priorities for 2016 and beyond”, witnessed commitments by several countries to support Somalia in areas of security, development and state building. The meeting was opened by UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and addressed by the President of Somalia, HE Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Ms. Nikosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the OIC Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, and the Secretary General of the Arab League, Dr. Nabil El-Arabi.
In his statement, the OIC Secretary General urged the Somali government to focus on laying the foundations for durable peace, democracy and development as pillars for a new Somalia. He said that one of the key priorities for the country is creating the auspicious safe and secure environment and agreeing on a widely acceptable electoral process for 2016 that will produce a more legitimate and popular leadership. He called for supporting AMISOM and the Somali Security forces, and in this regard, called on the UNSC to lift completely the arms embargo on Somalia as a way of accelerating the building of the capacity of the security sector.
Mr. Madani said that Somalia requires increased international support to combat terrorism, and that to address this menace a comprehensive approach is needed in addition to the use of force to counter violent extremism. In furtherance to an earlier offer of amnesty by the government to the militants who abandon violence and join the peace process, which the OIC welcomed, he said that the OIC is planning to pursue de-radicalization initiatives based on a right ideological discourse of moderation to counter the narratives of the extremists.
